in Los Angeles in the 1970s and went to Europe to find himself - first in happy drugged- out Amsterdam and then in nihilist punk rocky Berlin. All along he's in quest of "the real," but also of a voice, an identity. "Passing strange" is a phrase from Shakespeare's Othello, the program tells us, meaning stranger than strange, but for an African-American it inevitably also suggests "passing" for something you're not, something Stew extends in interesting directions, slyly picking up other phrases like "passing phase" along the way. Very smart, very moving, with just the right amount of stuff on love for a musical and on art for, well, art. I'm going again. You go too.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Surpassing
Saw a terrific, fantastic, wonderful new musical this afternoon at the Belasco Theater near Times Square. (Yes, I liked it.) It's called "Passing Strange," and opened recently to rapturous reviews. The reviews seem to me only fair. It's a rock musical with great performances by the whole cast, beautiful songs and an incredibly witty and wise script. It tells the story of Stew (who also narrates it), who grew up 
in Los Angeles in the 1970s and went to Europe to find himself - first in happy drugged- out Amsterdam and then in nihilist punk rocky Berlin. All along he's in quest of "the real," but also of a voice, an identity. "Passing strange" is a phrase from Shakespeare's Othello, the program tells us, meaning stranger than strange, but for an African-American it inevitably also suggests "passing" for something you're not, something Stew extends in interesting directions, slyly picking up other phrases like "passing phase" along the way. Very smart, very moving, with just the right amount of stuff on love for a musical and on art for, well, art. I'm going again. You go too.
in Los Angeles in the 1970s and went to Europe to find himself - first in happy drugged- out Amsterdam and then in nihilist punk rocky Berlin. All along he's in quest of "the real," but also of a voice, an identity. "Passing strange" is a phrase from Shakespeare's Othello, the program tells us, meaning stranger than strange, but for an African-American it inevitably also suggests "passing" for something you're not, something Stew extends in interesting directions, slyly picking up other phrases like "passing phase" along the way. Very smart, very moving, with just the right amount of stuff on love for a musical and on art for, well, art. I'm going again. You go too.
